In 12 years I’ve had published 22 chapbooks and 3 books, with two chapbooks and one more book forthcoming next year. Hyper-productivity is a coping mechanism for brain noise, and an aid to processing. My biggest challenge in writing is getting that distance to see my work from other eyes.Continue Reading
Are you a good guest author? One of the best ways writers can market themselves and their work is to provide guest posts for other websites or blogs. Guest posting allows an author to introduce herself and her work to a new audience, offer a free incentive to bring thoseContinue Reading
by Karen Ferguson We writers come from all walks of life: different personalities, backgrounds, interests, genres, writing habits, goals, and the like. But there is ONE thing that connects us all: We sit too much. If this doesn’t ring true for you, then congratulations! You’re doing better than most atContinue Reading
Ask yourself this: When was the last time I got some “me time?” Maybe you’re a writer with a big family. A mom or dad who’s constantly running after the kids. A caretaker or a full-time professional. You may find it difficult to make room for your writing. There’s aContinue Reading
by Pauline Wiles Around five years ago, Marie Kondo became a household name with her now famous clutter purging guide, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. With 4 million copies sold worldwide, many of us embraced her philosophy and methods for our homes. As a writer, there’s a good chanceContinue Reading
After having three books in print through a traditional publisher, I decided I wanted more control over my work, so I decided to self-publish the fourth one. Going forward with this plan, I consulted with a publishing expert, Jane Friedman. She suggested that in advance of the book’s release, IContinue Reading
Are you battling the self-doubt monster right now? Is it trying to bring you down and destroy your writing dreams? It’s a common theme in a writer’s life. You go along doing well for a while, and then something happens to cause you to doubt yourself. You get a rejectionContinue Reading
Self-doubt is the biggest emotional challenge for me. Writing is manageable to work through tough times and rejection, since it’s a way to escape the then-unpleasant world around me. As for writer’s block, I’ve been fortunate to experience it on a limited basis. Although I was once blocked about 14Continue Reading
Have you ever gone on a date with your writing? After you’ve been writing for a while, you can begin to look at it differently. You may start to see it as an obligation, and show up for sessions with an attitude of, “Hopefully things will go well today.” YouContinue Reading
The poet Robert Frost once said, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” This sums up the emotional challenge of writing for me, which is to place myself so entirely in the world of my characters that readers experience their joy and sadness. A recent example fromContinue Reading
Would you like to boost writing productivity, but you’re not sure how? Sometimes the smallest changes can create the largest impacts, so below I have 11 small changes you can make to increase your writing productivity. I’ve made all of these changes at one time or another and they allContinue Reading
As a young musician, I used to joke that every solo performance was an excellent way to lose weight. I’d get nervous, you see, and my nerves would rile my stomach. It didn’t cost me any extra money or require special foods and it worked like a charm. Over theContinue Reading